Phoonk 2 Reviews

Overall Rating:1.75/5

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List of Phoonk 2 Movie Reviews

Ratings:2/5 Reviewer:Rajeev Masand Site:IBNLive

Unfortunately there's very little in terms of plot progression, and barely any novelty or imagination in the manner that characters get killed in this film. The body count piles up, but it's all done so predictably it deprives you of guilty pleasure even. Written and directed by Milind Gadagkar who wrote the previous installment, Phoonk 2 is what you'd describe as Ramgopal Varma-lite. The thrills and scares are few and far between. They could have made this film in their sleep. Who knows, they probably did!I'm going with a generous two out of five for Phoonk 2. Second helpings seldom taste as good.

Yet, to be fair, the sequel is better than the first film, where all the horror was encapsulated in the caw of a raven. Honestly, who can be scared of a crow? This time, the raven does have a fleeting presence, but the goosebumps are embodied in a full-bodied ghost that makes you jump, maybe once. For the rest, Phoonk 2 really has no cold shivers to boast about. Sudeep tries hard, but doesn't live up to his intense performance in Rann. Phoonk 2 is just another run-of-the-mill horror film and doesn't do anything to lift the genre to another level altogether. Still awaiting India's classic horror flick. Any desi Hitchcock out there?

The problem is, what does the viewer expect from PHOONK 2? More terrifying and scary moments, right? But PHOONK 2 comes across as one of those usual revenge films, which tries so hard to create an eerie atmosphere, but never succeeds. It's more of a slasher film actually! The problem is, the pace of PHOONK 2 is excruciatingly slow, which just doesn't work for a horror film. The story unravels at a snail's pace and with hardly any terrifying/eerie moments in those two hours, the film falls flat on its face. The problem is, PHOONK 2 fails in its writing. The idea is a master stroke and had writer turned director Milind Gadagkar handled it right, PHOONK 2 would've scared the daylights out of you. But the film looks incomplete and the viewer keeps wondering, where did the spirit disappear? Final word? PHOONK 2 lacks the grip of PHOONK. A complete letdown!

Produced by the tireless Ram Gopal Varma and written-directed by firstimer (it shows) Milind Gadagkar, Phoonk 2 doesn’t scare you out of your pantaloons. It merely employs some select words in the dialogue that could send you over the moon. Swoon.suffice it to say a horror movie works only when it sucks you in, when it doesn’t make you feel that you’re watching hogwash, and when it jolts you to the extent of making you jump in your seat. This one doesn’t, despite the predictable bids to follow up silent passages with pump-up-the-volume-suddenly background music. RGV’s Bhoot did use that device effectively. Sorry to say, today the sound blast tactic has become deja ecoute.On the upside, the photography by Charles Meher is smart and moody. The editors achieve quite a few cool editing chops. As for the content, naah. Not only is it papyrus-thin but it’s hopelessly contrived.

If one were to break this movie down into its component parts this is how it would play -- people walk around the house, its grounds, or the beach spouting inane dialogue; the camera floats away, the music builds to a crescendo and (occasionally) something 'scary' is revealed. Many of the previous movie's greatest hits are back -- the scary face at the window, the disturbingly behaving reflections in the mirrors, the crow... it is all filmmaking by the numbers. And it all adds up to a big fat zero.The happenings in this movie are not as scary as the notion that producers are repeatedly funding movies like this.

The first half of the film is all atmospherics and the family making stilted conversation. The action only begins when Madhu gets serious and bodies start piling-up. There are a few fun moments here – the tantrik who messed with Madhu in the first film loses his head, literally. But mostly Phoonk 2 is all tease and no pay-off. The story makes little sense even within the logic of the film. The characters are supremely dim-witted and even the frights are too few and far between. One of the pleasures of these type of horror films is guessing which character will be bumped off first and how. But Gadagkar’s killings don’t show any flair or imagination. The horror is more Ramsay variety. Phoonk 2 isn’t very chilling or thrilling. See it if you must.

What it does have, in abundance, is blood. It seeps down body parts, and pools on the floor every so often..So, yes, `Phoonk 2’ works as a creep-out, gross-out horror flick, especially in the second half, when the gloves come off, and the `bhoot’ races about a deserted bungalow, impaling and dismembering. It would have been more of a shocker if the director had dumped the standard RGV horror shots Still, `Phoonk 2’ manages to startle and scare in a few places, even if a few scenes look filched from a couple of Japanese horror films, once in a while. Can’t ask for more, not from RGV’s brand of horror. Just make sure to keep the kids away from this one.

Ram Gopal Varma seems to be hell-bent to break his own records. When we were convinced that horror films can’t get horrible than Agyaat , RGV clears our misconception with Phoonk 2 . In this horrendous attempt, Ramu pays a homage to all his earlier made horror flicks, extends the tribute to Ramsay mould of face horror and ends it on the note of (believe it or faint) his arch rival Karan Johar’s template of tearjerkers. There is absolutely no regards to the story and the focus is merely on resorting to as much technical gimmickry as possible from standard sound effects, shocking shot-takings and gyrating camera movements.